The Legend of the Phoenix
by shannyfish
Summary: Picks up two months after X2...major spoilers for X2...what REALLY happened to Jean at Alkali Lake?


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Mutant X and X-Men: The Movie 1 or 2, Marvel Entertainment owns both…the WB and Fireworks own Mutant X and 20th Century Fox Entertainment and Bryan Singer own X-Men: The Movie 1 and 2.  
  
**Author's Note: **This takes place after X2. There are MAJOR I repeat MAJOR spoilers for X2! *peeks out* hmmmm this section looks familiar...i haven't been here forever hehehehehehe I've been hiding out in the JAG category...anyways I've had this started since the night X2 premiered.  
  
  
_  
**X-Men: The Movie 1 & 2  
"The Legend of the Phoenix"**_  
  
  
Chapter 1 - Lost in the Crowd  
  
X-Jet - Alkali Lake  
  
All Scott could do was cry and wish all he could that this was all a bad dream and that he really hadn't seen Jean die. She hadn't have left the plane, gone out injured, willed the plane into the air, controlled the plane out of danger, and then the water that she had been holding at bay collapsed upon her. His fiancée. The love of his life. His entire world. Gone. But it wasn't a dream, and there wasn't anything Scott could do to change it. But would he be able to go on with his life without her?  
  
  
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**Two Months Later…  
Grounds - Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters  
Westchester, NY**  
  
It was mid summer, and the grounds of Xavier's School for 'Gifted' Youngsters were alive with those 'gifted' students. Classes were out for the day, and the only thing on any of the kids' minds seemed to be having fun. Bobby and Rouge had grown up quite a bit over the past couple of months. They had become part of the X-Men, and were trying to manage school and keep others in line as well. Jean's death had affected almost everyone. Everyone had grieved in their own ways, and yet the professor had seemed to have stopped as soon as they had returned to the school. Scott though was far from recovering from his beloved fiancée's death, no one had seen him smile, he did what needed to be done and then hid away in his room. But today, Xavier had ordered all of the teachers to patrol the compound, he hadn't said why; he had just said to keep an eye on the kids. Scott hadn't been happy about the assignment, but did it anyway. He had stuck to the front of the school. Kids all grouped together doing various things, except one, one that was more a loner than any of the other kids in the school. Scott walked toward her; she had her head stuck in a book. "Annabelle, what are you reading?" he asked as he sat down next to her on the bench. Annabelle had been at the school for a year, she was sixteen, had brown hair, brown eyes, and had no friends.   
  
"The Legend of the Phoenix," Annabelle responded matter of factly not looking up from what she was reading.  
  
"The Legend of the Phoenix?" Scott asked. "Shouldn't you be off having fun like the other kids?"  
  
Annabelle looked up from her book with an annoyed look on her face. "No, why should I waste my valuable time doing that? This is much more interesting."  
  
"I see…and this whole book is all about the phoenix?" Scott questioned seeing the size of the rather large book.  
  
"The phoenix was in more than one culture," Annabelle told him. "Do you even know what a phoenix is?!"  
  
"A fire…like…ummm bird?" Scott answered not sure that was the answer she was looking for.  
  
Annabelle gave him an 'uh huh and you're suppose to be the teacher' look. "The Phoenix is a mythological bird. Sometimes it's described as a bird of fire, but mostly it's a brightly colored bird that lives in Arabia and that when it dies every 500 to 1,000 and some odd years it builds a nest, sets it on fire, and sits in the nest. The bird is dies and turns to ash and a new phoenix arises from the ashes."  
  
"And you're reading about it?" Scott asked confused.  
  
"Yes," she answered giving him a curious look.  
  
"You already seem to know all about it."  
  
"There are always other cultures that have a story about the phoenix, it's very interesting."  
  
"I see…" Scott said, he didn't get why she'd want to do that, but didn't feel like arguing.  
  
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**  
An Hour Later…  
Grounds - Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters  
Westchester, NY**  
  
Ororo frowned; she had been keeping an eye on Scott from inside the school for well over an hour, he hadn't moved from his spot even when Annabelle left. He was really depressed, or at least he seemed to be, not that it wasn't to be expected. Ororo just wished he'd talk to one of them, so she took it upon herself to initiate conversation. She walked out to Scott and sat down next to him. "Feel like talking?" she asked kindly.  
  
"What about?" Scott asked staring straight ahead.  
  
"Anything…"  
  
"Jean?" Scott prompted knowing that everyone was concerned about him since her 'death'.  
  
"We could talk about Jean, if you wanted," Ororo told him.  
  
"I miss her…" he told her his voice suddenly becoming weak.  
  
"So do I…we all do…but you most of all…"  
  
"Why couldn't it have been me?" he asked barely keeping his emotions in check.  
  
"Because you don't have Jean's powers…and Scott…if it was you…Jean would be right where you are…"  
  
Scott looked at Ororo, that hadn't helped any really but it was true. "This school was her life."  
  
"It's been all of ours…"   
  
"I keep seeing her face…everywhere…"  
  
Ororo smiled a little, "is she smiling?"  
  
Scott smiled, "she was always smiling, wasn't she?"  
  
"Almost always…"  
  
"Maybe that's one of the things I'll miss most about her."  
  
"One thing about Jean…she was always hopeful of the future…always seeing the good in people…"  
  
"She really loved it here…and the kids…"  
  
  
Ororo smiled, at least he wasn't sounding too depressed, "I saw you earlier with Annabelle."  
  
"Do you know she ENJOYS being an 'outcast' so to say of the group?"  
  
"Doesn't surprise me," Ororo stated, "she's a smart girl."  
  
"She was educating me on the legend of the phoenix."  
  
"The mythical firebird?"  
  
"The one that rises from the ashes…"  
  
"Right." Scott said. After a few minutes he looked down and then back at Ororo. "Do we even teach mythology?"  
  
"No."  
  
"She could teach it," Scott told her. "She can be pretty annoying though when you're suppose to be a teacher and you don't know these things."  
  
Ororo smiled, "even teachers learn new things."  
  
"I feel so lost, like I'm alone," Scott said changing the subject thinking about Jean.  
  
"I know how you feel, but we're here for you Scott…you know you can talk to me if you ever need to…and the professor too…"  
  
"I know…" Scott said quietly looking down.  
  
Ororo rubbed his back, "just keep that in mind, I'm going to go check on the kids…"  
  
"Okay," he said.  
  
Ororo stood up and headed towards where the kids were playing.  
  
"Thanks Ororo," Scott said.  
  
"Your welcome," she said smiling not turning but stopping for a brief second before walking off.  
  
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**  
TBC...**


End file.
